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Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Dining with the Bloggers - March 23rd.

I can't begin to fathom the amount of new food blogs popping up here and there and everywhere! It really is amazing and I'm very impressed with the love and care put into each and every one of them. Cheers to you and keep up the good work!

The Sugar High Friday this time around was hosted by Debbie and introduced me to an INSANE amount of food blogs I've never visited before. Not all of them entirely new, I know, I know - I'm just sooo slow! Anyways, one of the several that caught my eye was Lex Culinaria, written by a female lawyer "deported" from Melbourne to Edmonton. She makes fantastic food I tell ya, and has a handy index that I immediately ran through. (Sorry, but I couldn't find her name on the site - I'll just call her Lex - I hope that's okay?!) As if that isn't enough, she's got another blog too - and she's funny! Take a look at this one for instance!

And I found this wonderful sounding thingy, fitting perfectly with this weeks theme, rice. Vanilla Sour Cream Risotto with Blueberries and Syrup. And oh boy! Was it good or was it good!? It reminded me a bit of risengrød (rice porridge I guess it would be - sorta like this) that we traditionally eat around Christmas, only this is (obviously, look at the name of the dish!) laced with plenty of vanilla and blueberry syrup.

I managed to mess up the syrup - something with the water to sugar ratio looking weird to me, then a lot of bubbling, seizing, stirring. Anyways - it still worked. The sour cream in the risotto intrigued me - I sometimes use a couple of spoonfuls of lightly whipped cream in my savory risotto, making it just a tad lighter and fluffier. The sour cream does the same, and also adds a slight sourness that works really well against the vanilla - I suspect it would work nicely in a savory version too. And oh, I'm a sugar piggy, so I added a spoonful of vanilla-scented sugar to the risotto in the end. I might just try the leftovers cold with the warmed syrup on top.

5 comments:

You've made me blush! You probably didn't do anything worng with the syrup. I really ought to preface my recipes by saying that all measurements are approximations. I really am a "chuck some stuff into a pot and see what comes out" kind of cook.

That sounds so good, Zarah. I'll try adding some sour cream the next time I make risotto.I really look forward to seeing both your entry and Cathy's on Dining with Bloggers on Wednesdays Keep up the good cooking/work!

Zarah - this sounds great! I love blueberries and usually have tons of them in the summer from my blueberry bush. I'm not planning on using a bird net this summer after the tragic events of last summer :( so I hope don't lose them all to the birds!

Lyn - not Lex!:-) I really liked your recipe - and your blog! The "chuck some stuff into a pot and see what comes out"-kind of chef is what I aspire to be, and I actually like feeling you have to use your experience and common sense when you use a recipe, and don't just go by the book. That said, there are of course things I would never attempt doing without my nose stuck in the book - at least not the first time! I think one of the charms of doing other peoples own recipes is that they haven't been done with a measuring spoon in hand - and I'm definetly going to be pointing my dirty spoon at some of your other recipes soon... Oh, and I forgot: I LOVE that you call your man Cakes!

Nic. - Thank you! I really like doing DwtB - As I said to my Boyfriend the other day, doing this risotto: I get to try so many techniques I've wanted to try for a while, but never got round to - and find new recipes, new products, new flavors and a lot of inspiration along the way. It's like a fun kind of homework!

Cathy - oh, your very own blueberry bush - you are indeed a lucky girl! That was a sad story (I just read it!) - hopefully there'll be anough berries for both you and the birds.

Tanvi - yes, rice pudding is good. I'm looking forward to blueberry season, I really want to try it with fresh berries - mine were very small and tart, so I'd like to try it the fresh way!